481
Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chinese varieties of Turnip, Lettuce, Prickly Spinach, Leeks and Sweet Potatoes, there is no room for competition. As regards fruit, a quantity of Melons have been produced and have found a ready and profitable market in Hongkong. Guavas, Wampis and Papaws are too cheap to repay cultivation, but it is worth the consideration of capitalists whether the very cheapness of these and other fruits and also of some vegetables such as Green l'eas does not offer oppor- tunities for a profitable tinning or preserving establishment in the Colony. A large amount of jams and tinned vegetables must be consumed annually in Hongkong and Manila and locally grown produce should easily compete with imported pre-
serves.
It is a matter for surprise that no Pineapple canning factory has been set up hitherto in Hongkong, considering the large and increasing amount of this fruit produced here, and with the example of the success that has attended this industry in Singapore.
Pasture and fodder.—The questions of cattle food has long been a difficult one and generally speaking the only cattle that are kept in the Colony are a few hundred cows at the English and Chinese Dairy Farms and those used for draught purposes in the Chinese villages.
In the English Dairy Farin Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum) has been used with rice straw, and silo hus been tried. The Chinese village cattle have to find their own food as a rule along the sides of paddy fields and, in the summer, on the hills. It is naturally a matter of much interest to ascertain whether natural pasture or some substitute can be found to maintain herds of bullocks in the Colony. With the object of investigating this subject several expeditions were undertaken during the year to Lantao (this under special instruction) and other localities where elevated plateaux offered the possibility of permanent pasture. Out of the 52 square miles of Lantao 6 attain an altitude of 800 feet or more. The greater part of this high land consists of rock-strewn slopes surrounding the various peaks and their connecting ridges. The valleys that ascend into this region are mostly rugged mountain gorges densely clothed with native scrub, but here and there the advantages of a few acres of level ground and abundant water are shewn by the presence of a small hamlet and a few paddy fields.
A small number of cattle from these upland farms are driven out daily on to the neighbouring hill sides where they can obtain some scanty food among the scattered tufts of coarse grass.
For purposes of grazing the greater part of the high lands is useless, the growth of grass being coarse and thin. This is fully recognised by the villagers who try to improve the vegetation by periodical burnings. These however give little benefit and the enquirer is everywhere referred to the Ngong-ping, or “high plain" as the only "green grass" in the island.
The Ngong-ping is a plateau near Lantao Peak, which has long been used as a cattle pasture and upon which 40 or 50 head of cattle are left untended during the summer. It is too dry during the winter for grazing purposes. It is situated 2 miles south-west of Tung Chung Police Station and 3 miles east of that of Ty 6. It is an undulating plateau of about 300 acres covered with smooth green turf. Its altitude is about 1,200 ft. It is surrounded by high peaks, the highest-Lantao Peak (3,065 ft.)-being to the south-east, and beyond these the country falls rapidly on all sides. Numerous rivulets rise on the hill sides and, after winding across the plain, plunge into rocky gorges towards the north-west and south-west.
The turf is almost entirely composed of one kind of grass-Ischaemum aristatum var. barbatum. This grass is nowhere recorded as one of economic importance, but closely allied species of the same genus are highly valued as fodder grasses in India. Like them it produces a close ani luxuriant growth of soft and nearly smooth leaves. The manner in which it is eaten by the Chinese cattle proves it to be an excellent pasture grass under suitable conditions.
Two necessary conditions are probably the prevalence of cloud and therefore of moisture, and the presence of flat ground. The rarity of this combination will explain the fact that though the grass occurs occasionally throughout Hongkong and the New Territory, there is no record of pasture similar to that on the Ngong- ping in any other part of this district.